First Avenue: Fans remember Prince at iconic club

Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds.

Photos:Prince: The artist

Singer and songwriter Prince performs onstage during his Purple Rain Tour in 1984. The artist, who pioneered "the Minneapolis sound" and took on the music industry in his fight for creative freedom, died in April 2016 at age 57.

Hide Caption

1 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince performs in New York in 1980. Prince won seven Grammy Awards, and earned 30 nominations. Five of his singles topped the charts and 14 other songs hit the Top 10.

Hide Caption

2 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

He performs at the Palladium in New York in 1981.

Hide Caption

3 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince at the Lyceum in London in 1981.

Hide Caption

4 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince and Apollonia Kotero in a scene from the movie "Purple Rain," which was released in 1984.

Hide Caption

5 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince, seen here on set, won an Oscar for the original song score for the classic film.

Hide Caption

6 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince performs in New York in 1984. Controversy followed the singer and that, in part, made his fans adore him more. His 1984 song, "Darling Nikki," details a one-night stand and prompted the formation of the Parents Music Resource Center. Led by Al Gore's then-wife, Tipper Gore, the group encouraged record companies to place advisory labels on albums with explicit lyrics.

Hide Caption

7 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince performs at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit in 1984.

Hide Caption

8 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince performs live at the Fabulous Forum in 1985, in Inglewood, California.

Hide Caption

9 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince in 1985.

Hide Caption

10 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince, circa 1985.

Hide Caption

11 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince performs live at the 1985 Fabulous Forum in Inglewood, California. He created what became known as the Minneapolis sound, which was a funky blend of pop, synth and new wave.

Hide Caption

12 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince in the United Kingdom in the 1980s.

Hide Caption

13 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince, circa 1985.

Hide Caption

14 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince in a scene from the 1986 film "Under the Cherry Moon."

Hide Caption

15 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince performs in London in 1986.

Hide Caption

16 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince performs in London in 1986.

Hide Caption

17 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince performs at London's Wembley Arena in 1986.

Hide Caption

18 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince in 1987.

Hide Caption

19 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince performs at Wembley Arena in London in 1988.

Hide Caption

20 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

The singer's predilection for lavishly kinky story-songs earned him the nickname "His Royal Badness." He is also known as the "Purple One" because of his colorful fashions. He is seen here in 1990.

Hide Caption

21 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince performs in 1990.

Hide Caption

22 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince, 1990.

Hide Caption

23 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince performs during "The Nude Tour" in Birmingham, United Kingdom, in 1990.

Hide Caption

24 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince listens to the crowd during a 1991 concert.

Hide Caption

25 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince performs at the MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles in 1991.

Hide Caption

26 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince performs at the Globe Arena in Stockholm in 1993.

Hide Caption

27 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince arrives at the Ritz Hotel in Paris in 1994.

Hide Caption

28 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

A disguised Prince appears at a Virgin Records in London in 1995.

Hide Caption

29 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

As dozens of singers perform "We Are The World" on the 10th anniversary of the African famine relief anthem, the artist formerly known as Prince stands sucking on a lollipop next to Quincy Jones at the American Music Awards in Los Angeles in 1995.

Hide Caption

30 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince poses for a photo in Toronto in 1996.

Hide Caption

31 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Muhammad Ali pats Prince's head prior to a news conference where they were to announce plans for a benefit concert in 1997.

Hide Caption

32 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince performs in 1998.

Hide Caption

33 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

A disguised Prince speaks at GQ magazine's third annual Men of the Year Awards in 1998.

Hide Caption

34 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince, circa 1999.

Hide Caption

35 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince performs in Hong Kong on October 17, 2003. Prince's concert was the the opening act in a four-week government-sponsored music festival titled "Hong Kong Harbor Fest," aimed at boosting the image of SARS-battered Hong Kong.

Hide Caption

36 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince arrives with his then-wife, Manuela Testolini, for the 77th Academy Awards on February 27, 2005, in Los Angeles.

Hide Caption

37 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince at the 2005 NAACP Image Awards in Los Angeles.

Hide Caption

38 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince performs during a news conference for Super Bowl XLI in 2007.

Hide Caption

39 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

He left his imprint on many aspects of popular culture, from film to movies to sports to politics. As the Minnesota Vikings prepped to take on the New Orleans Saints in the 2010 NFC championship game, Prince wrote a fight song entitled "Purple and Gold" to inspire his home team. The Vikings lost. He was the half-time performer at the Super Bowl in 2007 in Miami Gardens, Florida, seen here.

Hide Caption

40 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince performs onstage during the 2007 NCLR ALMA Awards.

Hide Caption

41 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince performs on the runway at the spring/summer 2008 collection fashion show by Matthew Williamson during London Fashion Week in September 2007.

Hide Caption

42 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince performs during his Welcome 2 America tour at Madison Square Garden in 2011 in New York.

Hide Caption

43 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

American pop legend Prince is pictured performing on the final night of the Hop Farm Music Festival in Kent, United Kingdom, in 2011.

Hide Caption

44 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince performing at the Femoren on August 6, 2011, in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Hide Caption

45 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince on stage with singer Mary J. Blige during the 2012 iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las Vegas.

Hide Caption

46 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince presents the winner for Record of the Year to Gotye and Kimbra during the 55th Grammy Awards in 2013.

Hide Caption

47 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

A year later, Prince performs during the 2013 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas.

Hide Caption

48 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince performs at the 2013 Skanderborg Festival in Denmark.

Hide Caption

49 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince is seen in the stands during the 2014 French Open in Paris.

Hide Caption

50 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Left to right: Zooey Deschanel, Prince, and Jake Johnson in a scene from the TV show "New Girl" which aired in 2014.

Hide Caption

51 of 53

Photos:Prince: The artist

Prince speaks at the 2015 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. Additionally, last year, Prince released the song "Baltimore," addressing the unrest after the death of Freddie Gray while in police custody. He performed at a benefit concert in the city and gave a portion of the proceeds to youth groups in Baltimore.

Story highlights

Prince died on Thursday. He was 57

Fans gathered at First Avenue in Minneapolis to remember him

Minneapolis, Minnesota (CNN)Hours after learning of pop icon Prince's death, hundreds of fans -- many wearing purple -- shut down the street in front of the famous First Avenue nightclub in Minneapolis for an all-night dance party.

Some cried as they sang songs and shared stories. They talked about how much Prince meant to them and how he showed the music industry that you don't need to be from the East or West coast to make it big.

A photo posted by mallory_simon (@mallory_simon) on Apr 21, 2016 at 8:10pm PDT

Allison Werthmann-Radnich choked up as she remembered Prince.

"Memories of Prince and his music are the background and cornerstone of pretty much every important event in my life. Prom, weddings, New Year's Eve celebrations, concerts at First Avenue. His music was incredible. It was heartfelt. It was youthful and funky and rock 'n roll all in one.

"He was an artist that I looked up to because he never compromised his artistic integrity and that was really inspiring for me. And he had success because of it and not in spite of it.

"When I heard (the news of his death) it was like the finality of a giant chapter of my life knowing that there would be no more music.

"I actually looked at my two-and-a-half year old son Oscar and thought 'he's never going to see him perform.' That was one of my first thoughts -- My kid isn't going to see this amazing musician perform live.

"He was the soul of the music scene of Minneapolis for so many years -- it spanned decades -- because he loved this city and produced here and brought business here and made movies here.

"He kept the Minneapolis music scene alive. He put it on the map. He helped launch and maintain careers that otherwise would've gone to the coasts.

"We look back at this amazing man's life and all the work that he did and share our memories, celebrate what he did and be inspired by him."

A photo posted by mallory_simon (@mallory_simon) on Apr 22, 2016 at 12:03am PDT

43-year-old Joelle Erikson says she grew up on the music of Prince and is in shock he's gone.

"He's the fabric of this city when it comes to music," she said. "There's no Minneapolis sound without talking about him. I just don't even know what we can do to thank him for all he's done for us. I'm just so, so, so sad tonight. But I'm going to try and celebrate. Celebrate his life"